Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT – Get Rating) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.94.

VIRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Virtu Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 6th. Citigroup cut Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $22.50 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other news, Director Joanne Minieri acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.63 per share, with a total value of $90,520.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 16,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $366,311.81. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Virtu Financial by 8.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 186,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,935,000 after buying an additional 13,965 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Virtu Financial by 7.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 762,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,393,000 after buying an additional 55,491 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth $220,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.7% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 13,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $20.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Virtu Financial has a 52-week low of $19.59 and a 52-week high of $38.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $21.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.24.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.04. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 13.27%. The firm had revenue of $331.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $307.23 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 30th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 31.79%.

About Virtu Financial

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Virtu Financial, Inc, a financial services company, provides data, analytics, and connectivity products to clients worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Market Making and Execution Services. Its product suite includes offerings in execution, liquidity sourcing, analytics and broker-neutral, and multi-dealer platforms in workflow technology.